CertainTeed Presidential Shake vs. Presidential TL for Southlake Estate Homes

Southlake estate homes — and a lot of the big custom houses next door in Westlake, Colleyville and Trophy Club — often want the look of hand-split cedar without the upkeep of wood. CertainTeed’s answer in that lane is the Presidential series: oversized, sculpted, shake-look asphalt shingles. The two versions that come up most on bids here are Presidential Shake and Presidential Shake TL. They look related from the curb. On the roof and on the warranty paperwork, they are not the same product.

I’m Blake Snow. I’ve been roofing for 30 years and I’m certified with CertainTeed. Here’s how I walk Southlake owners through the choice, using CertainTeed’s own product pages and technical data sheets — not sales talk.

What both products share

CertainTeed classes Presidential as a luxury laminated shingle, above its designer and Landmark lines. Per CertainTeed’s Presidential Shake and Presidential Shake TL product pages and the published technical data sheets:

• Size: 14 1/4” × 40”
• Exposure: 4”
• Pieces per square: 90
• Fire: UL Class A
• Look: sculpted rustic edges meant to read like cedar shake
• Features CertainTeed calls out: self-sealing adhesive strips, NailTrak nailing targets, and StreakFighter algae resistance where available

That short 4-inch exposure is why Presidential roofs look so thick from the street. A Landmark-class architectural shingle is usually laid at a longer exposure with fewer pieces per square. Presidential puts more material on the roof for the same square footage of house — which is part of the curb appeal and part of the cost.

Where they diverge: layers, weight and impact class

This is the part most quotes bury in a product name.

So the third layer on the TL buys you a thicker profile, roughly 118 more pounds of shingle per square, and a step up from Class 3 to Class 4 on the UL 2218 impact test. Size, exposure, piece count and the headline warranty terms stay the same.

CertainTeed also sells a Presidential Shake IR Class 4 option at the lighter two-layer weight in select colors and regions. If Class 4 is the goal and framing capacity is tight, ask whether IR is available locally before you default to TL.

What Class 4 does — and does not — mean in hail country

North Texas gets real hail. UL 2218 Class 4 means a sample survived a 2-inch steel ball dropped from 20 feet in a lab test without cracking through. That is useful information. It is not a hail warranty.

CertainTeed’s limited warranty, like every major asphalt maker’s, does not cover hail damage. Some insurers offer a premium credit for Class 4 roofs; the amount and the rules depend on the carrier and the policy. Ask your agent, not the shingle brochure.

If your current Presidential roof has already been hit, get slope-by-slope documentation before anyone argues repair versus replace. Our storm damage page covers how we inspect and report. In Texas you generally have one year from the date of loss to file a claim, but check your own policy, since some differ.

Warranty: what CertainTeed actually publishes

Per CertainTeed’s Presidential product pages, both Shake and Shake TL carry:

• Lifetime limited transferable warranty for residential individual owners
• 50-year limited transferable warranty for group-owned or commercial ownership
• 10-year SureStart protection
• 15-year 110 mph wind-resistance warranty, with a 130 mph upgrade when CertainTeed starter and CertainTeed hip and ridge are used as required
• 30-year StreakFighter algae-resistance warranty where available

Presidential sits in CertainTeed’s Lifetime A group in the asphalt shingle Limited Warranty. That group is the one where SureStart language covers tear-off, metal work, flashing and disposal for a covered manufacturing defect during the SureStart period — a meaningful difference from Lifetime B products such as standard Landmark. Always read the current warranty PDF for the exact terms that apply to the color and plant you are buying; I summarize what CertainTeed publishes, I don’t rewrite it.

Low slopes, starters and hips

Presidential is at its best on steeper roofs. CertainTeed’s TL data sheet recommends slopes of 4:12 and greater for optimum appearance, and it has stricter low-slope underlayment rules than a typical architectural shingle. On slopes from 2:12 to under 4:12, CertainTeed requires a full-deck ASTM D1970 waterproofing membrane (WinterGuard or equivalent) under Presidential TL — two layers of felt are not the accepted alternative the way they can be on some other products.

CertainTeed also requires its Presidential Starter (or an approved alternative) as a two-layer starter course, and it points hips and ridges to Cedar Crest or Mountain Ridge in a matching color. Those accessories matter for the wind upgrade and for a clean cap line on a thick laminate. Ask every bid to list starter, underlayment and hip/ridge by product name, not just “CertainTeed Presidential.”

Weight on a Southlake estate roof

On a 40-square Southlake roof, Presidential Shake is roughly 14,000 lb of shingles; the TL is roughly 18,700 lb. A Landmark-class architectural roof at around 220 lb per square is closer to 8,800 lb. That gap is why CertainTeed tells applicators to confirm structural capacity before a Presidential re-roof, and why I will not put TL on a house until someone has looked at the framing, prior layers and deck condition.

If you still have an old roof underneath, tear-off first. Roof-overs forfeit a lot of what you are paying for on a luxury Class 3 or Class 4 product.

How I decide between Shake and TL on Southlake bids

1. Hail and insurance. If the owner wants Class 4 and the structure can carry it, TL (or Shake IR where available) is the conversation. If Class 3 is enough and weight or budget is the limit, standard Shake.
2. Architecture. Both read as cedar shake from the street. TL’s third layer shows a bit more depth up close on steep, open gables — the kind of elevations you see around Southlake Town Square’s estate neighborhoods, Westlake’s custom streets, and Colleyville and Trophy Club cul-de-sacs.
3. HOA. Bring samples. Screen colors lie. CertainTeed itself says printed and digital colors will not match the product exactly.
4. Whole-system quote. Underlayment, starter, hip and ridge, flashing metal and ventilation belong on the same page as the shingle. A Presidential roof with cheap accessories is not the roof CertainTeed’s warranty upgrade describes.

Our CertainTeed Presidential Shake page and designer and luxury shingles page go deeper on the line. If you are comparing against Landmark instead of Presidential, see CertainTeed Landmark. For hail-focused Class 4 options across brands, see Class 4 impact-resistant shingles.

Talk to us about your Southlake roof

We install CertainTeed Presidential and other luxury shingles on estate homes across Southlake, Westlake, Colleyville, Trophy Club and the rest of DFW. We’re certified with GAF, CertainTeed, Owens Corning, Atlas, Johns Manville, Carlisle, Tropical, Mule-Hide and Enviroshake, and we’re A+ rated with the BBB. Request a free inspection or call (817) 733-9228.